The Family That the House Built
by Whisper Gypsy
Summary: Nineteen year old Remus comes forward and finds one Hermione Granger and her foster son Teddy living in the house he just bought. Whenever he enters the house the year is 1999, but when he leaves he is back in 1979. Will he be able to change all the past she has shared with him? Can he bring himself to leave his house with the promise of a loving family waiting for him within?
1. Prologue: Dreams and Nightmares

A/N: So, this is the RLHG "one shot" from my poll. This pairing came in first place and will actually not be a one shot; more will come, I promise.

Disclaimer: If Harry Potter and Co. were mine, this would be the first I've heard of it.

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Prologue: Dreams and Nightmares

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Remus Lupin exhaled nervously. He had never done anything like this. After graduation he had moved in with James and Sirius in their London flat. But, now James was getting married to Lily, and Sirius was getting a smaller flat—his "bachelor pad"—and it was time for the Marauder's token werewolf to move out and into his own place.

The little cottage had called out to something in his heart the moment he saw it in the weekly ad. It had a small garden shed which he could charm to contain Moony during his tide-like visits. There was a large fireplace which could be attached to the Floo Network with a little bit of paperwork at the Ministry. The paint on the walls had faded, but he knew several handy cleaning charms and other small housekeeping spells to help turn the house into his home. It had two bedrooms, and a very soft, thick carpet. He had taken his shoes off and curled his sock-covered toes into its thick fibers while the realtor spoke of this "wonderful feature" or that "neighborhood benefit", his amber eyes dancing around the room, thinking of all the possibilities of this house.

"I'll take it," he interrupted softly, hands reaching for the deed, ready to sign over his meager life savings, recently transferred from galleons to pounds at Gringott's, for this dream home. "Where do I sign?"

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Hermione shifted the sleeping toddler to her other hip, stroking her fingers through his blue-purple hair. She walked back from her room to the smaller nursery and tucked the young boy into his crib. She laid him down and tucked the golden blanket around his softly-breathing form. She murmured the wandless charm which started his Quidditch-themed mobile playing a lullaby, sung to him by his late mother and father, as the two figures on the brooms flew after a small snitch, in lopping circles. She smiled at the boy's gentle face, so like Remus', but so free of the scars of Remus' curse.

Hermione smiled wistfully and turned back to her room, leaving the door to his room open so she could hear him if he fussed. Once back in bed, she stared at the ceiling for hours, fighting the nightmares from last year's battle. Hermione wouldn't be able to sleep until the first fingers of morning came poking through the night sky.

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So, thoughts? Please review. I'll love you more that way. *wink*


	2. First Chapter: Chaos and Crazies

A/N: Hello, everyone! *waves like Hermione raises her hand in class* I got so many requests to continue this fic and I am buzzing with happiness. I hope you all enjoy this update. Yes, it's not as long as I had planned, but Hermione's POV demanded more screen time. Celebrities, huh?

Disclaimer: I do own several pieces of this story. It is not all mine, but it is up to you to decide what you want to assume is mine or isn't. Then you can get sued for slander, or perjury, depending on the case, and I can simply remind people what they become when they assume.

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First Chapter: Chaos and Crazies

LINE BREAK

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Remus tucked his trousers and shirt into the laundry bin before pulling his pajamas from the bureau drawer. He ambled into the bathroom where he brushed his teeth, ran his fingers through his hair and disparaged over his unforgivable appearance. He pulled the Muggle scar-fading cream out from the little drawer and stared at it for a long time. He knew it wouldn't work miracles, but even a less prominent scar would be a blessing. With a sigh he unscrewed the cap and applied the cream onto his worst visible scar, the one that had broken his nose and puckered the flesh of each cheek, right up to his eye, pointing at it like a threat. The cream smelled like Lily's face powder—and wasn't that a choking scent! He held his breath and left it on long enough to put a bit of plaster over it, letting it cover the cream and weaken the smell. Hopefully it wouldn't keep him awake.

He stepped from the bathroom, flicking the lights off as he did, and his tired eyes focused on the large bed his bones just ached to sink into. The bedspread and whole bed set was a Gryffindor theme with golden sheets and a maroon topper, and it looked like home. With a grin and a small cough from the smell of the cream, the eighteen year old werewolf climbed into bed and was asleep in moments.

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He was very warm, in a comfortable way that made him think of April Saturday mornings in the boys' dorms with the Marauders. He smiled and stretched out, finding he couldn't move with his hands trapped in a lion's mane. Or rather, some girl's hair.

Well that was unexpected.

He pulled away and mumbled what he thought was, "Who are you?" but it sounded more like "Tutu". The girl's eye snapped open, and she whipped a wand out from somewhere, or maybe even nowhere and she rolled out of the bed, landing in a crouched defensive position, wand aimed directly at his heart.

She looked ready to cry, but quickly moved to anger. "Who the hell are you, and what the hell are you doing in my bed, in my house?"

Remus blanched. "Y-your house?" The girl simply stared at him, wand still threatening his existence. "But, this is my house. I bought it yesterday…"

"I don't think so, you sick git! Now why are you here and how the hell do you look like Remus? You couldn't have kept his hair, the polyjuice potion kills you if you drink a bit of a dead person, so how the hell did you pull this off? Answer me, damnit!"

Remus backed slowly away from the crazy witch. _How the Royal Dark Chocolate does she know my name? Back away slowly, Moony…_ "H-how'd you know my name? And who are you?"

She turned red and he swallowed thickly. He'd seen that look before. It had been on Lily's face right before she'd slugged Sirius for teasing Snape. "_Your name?_" she hissed icily. "It's not your name, you great wanker! Remus John Lupin was a hero, and even if you didn't come here to threaten me, I will still tear you to shreds for maligning him. Now who the fuc—" A child's wail cut off her cursing.

The woman's face paled and she turned towards the spare bedroom. "Teddy; not Teddy," she whispered, before sending a hasty "Petrificus Totalus" at Remus and running out the door. Remus groaned as he thudded to the floor.

At least the carpet was thick and soft.

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E/N: So? Thoughts? Commentary? Praise? Hate-mail covered in potions to make me burst out in boils? Send them all in that handy little box down there.


	3. Second Chapter: Broken Wards & Bleeding

A/N:I am currently dividing my attention between writing this chapter, reading wonderful reviews, watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, listening to Train, talking with my Dad, and drinking Mountain Dew. And it's only 11:00 at night. Almost Sunday! "I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending that I don't exist." And then… WTF is that? "Stop, Dobby? Dobby, shush!" Not drunk, I swear. Ok, ok, one more thing. Harry put his glasses on—just before the Ford Anglia pulls up—with his pinky up. I love that, so much etiquette in such a small body. LOL This update is dedicated to gibsonscaroline2.

Disclaimer: Cannot be mine, for then it would not be in my toy box. I borrow toy boxes from people and put my name on the bottoms. No one ever looks there! I put them back later.

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Second Chapter: Broken Wards and Bleeding Hearts

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Hermione's POV:

My heart thudded loudly in my ears and my lungs ached as I ran to Teddy's room. _Dear God, I hope he's not hurt! Not after both Tonks and Remus… Who the hell was that man anyway? Another rogue death eater out for revenge after the war? But how did he get Remus' hair? Or any piece of him? Oh, no… Had he gotten a piece of Teddy and then been able to change into whomever he liked? But no, he was… he was too young to be Remus…_

I slammed the door open and rushed to the squalling toddler, rescuing him from where he stood, clutching the rails of his crib, bouncing on his chubby legs. "Sh, Teddy. I've got you; you're alright. Mione's here now." My eyes scanned the room, searching for an attacker. There was none, except the man in my room. And he hadn't exactly been attacking. He had, however, somehow gotten through my wards, and that was a very personal attack.

I cuddled my little boy closer as he sucked his thumb and tucked his head onto my shoulder, wet nose rubbing along my chin. I kept my wand arm out, and faced my bedroom. I walked forward two steps, right foot always before my left, shielding Teddy with both my body and several protective charms, my wand gripped firmly in my right hand.

I heard movement coming from the room, and some mutterings, but nothing I could make out. _He must have performed the counter curse, then… _I spelled the door wide open and came face to face with the intruder, who had claimed to own the house and be Remus Lupin. _Oh Godric… He couldn't be a ghost, could he?_

"No, you're too solid to be a ghost," I whispered. Teddy whimpered into my ear and I began bouncing him a bit, rocking his heavy weight along my hip, soothing both him and myself.

"I am not dead and I am not a ghost," he answered me.

I met his gaze sharply, pinching my eyes as I glared at him. "I know you're not, but I also happen to know you cannot possibly be Remus Lupin. I saw him dead and I was there when he was buried. I am raising his son, so I would kindly appreciate it if you would tell me the truth. Who are you, and how in Godric's name did you get through my wards?"

The Remus-wannabe cringed at first, and then stared at Teddy, eyes wide. "S-son?" he queried in a voice that trembled. I nodded and moved half a step back, distancing myself from him, keeping Teddy firmly behind me. He followed and then stopped, hand still outstretched bit, trembling.

"Stay back. Don't you dare come another step closer." He obediently took two steps back, placing himself just within the bedroom behind him. "Good, now tell me who the hell you are, and what you are doing in my house."

"I haven't lied to you. I purchased the house yesterday. And I really am Remus Lupin. I graduated from Hogwarts School last year with my mates James, Sirius, Peter and Lily. I finally got on with getting my own place since James proposed and he and Lily will be tying the knot soon enough. Peter hasn't left home yet, and Sirius wanted his own place. I found this place and decided immediately that it was perfect. Now why, in the name of all that is delicious in Honeydukes, would you tell me I not only do not own this house, but that I also have a son, and am dead?"

"You mean to tell me you are Moony, resident werewolf, best Defense professor, and my dead…" I blanched at the stark expression on his face and cut off my rant. "Get out. Get the royal fuck out of my house, right now. You are a complete nutter and I never want you to walk in through those doors again, do you hear me? Get out!"

He obeyed me this time, but there were angry red sparks spitting from my wand at this point, as my wand respond to the desire to defend my home and Teddy welling up within me in a great surge.

His hands were up in a defensive gesture and I stalked after him all the way to the door. He opened it behind him and stepped out.

Where he promptly vanished.

I screamed as he reappeared moments later, eyes wide and breathing heavily. "What happened? You were there and I stepped outside and then you were gone! What is the Fudge Drops going on?"

I was irritated and might have screamed my frustration I weren't already shouting at him, "Stop! Stop doing that! Stop imitating him! Remus always did that, since he didn't want to use real curses!" Teddy began crying again as I shouted. "Oh, love, hush, I've got you, it's alright. We're going to be alright. I promise, Teddy. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."

I glanced up and saw the man reaching out for Teddy again. "No! Stay back!"

Teddy looked up at my frightened face and turned to face the man across from me. The one year old stopped crying, turning his head to the side, trying to recognize the man. A brilliant smile lit across his beautiful little face and he reached his pudgy hands out to our intruder. "Dada!"

My heart froze, and I swung to face the man, watching him intently as Teddy's features began morphing to match the sandy hair and slightly tanned skin of the man impersonating Remus.

"What?" Even his choked, hollow whispers sounded like Remus. "I don't… I don't have son. I've never even…" He shook himself, trying to rationalize his circumstances. Or so he wanted me to believe.

"Would you stop insisting that you are him? It's one thing to completely freak me out, but Teddy's going to be even more hurt when he realizes you're not real! You're not his father. I was there. Teddy's father died at the Battle of Hogwarts on May second of nineteen ninety-eight. So forgive me if I'd rather punch you in the gut than welcome a man impersonating Remus on the first anniversary of his death."

"Battle at Hogwarts? May… Nineteen ninety-eight?" His face slowly drained of color and he backed away from me slowly. "Nineteen ninety-eight, you said?"

I nodded, afraid to speak anymore at the terror on that familiar face.

"But…" he swallowed, nervously eyeing me and Teddy, wary or frightened. "But it's not nineteen ninety-eight…"

I scoffed. "Of course not, it's nineteen ninety-nine, you imbecile. I thought I told you to leave. Just because you turn invisible once you walk out of my house, does not make it my problem. Get. Out."

"Nineteen ninety-nine?" He shook his head firmly, mouth closed tightly, nostrils flaring as he inhaled through them. "You're the nutter; it's nineteen seventy-nine, not ninety-nine. This is my house, I signed the deed, yesterday, May second, nineteen seventy-nine, and you and your… my… our… Why are you doing this?"

He looked so lost. I felt my memory washing me back to fifth year, when I woke and Remus was about to tell me Sirius had fallen through the Veil.

"Oh my God. Remus?"

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E/N: Longer chapter this time! They will be getting longer, staying in the realm of 1500ish words per chapter. I will be using separate chapters per POV in the story up to a certain point, at which both POVs will occur in the same chapter, as shown in the Prologue. Those chapters will be twice as long, and are a ways off. Anyway, please review!


	4. Third Chapter: Shock and Countershock

Chapter Three: Shock and Countershock

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A/N: Yes, I know I haven't updated in a while. Thank you for being patient with me. This chapter is dedicated to Tychesong who vehemently demanded an update.

Disclaimer: Why yes, they're mine—Wait! This is a trick question, isn't it? *stink eye*

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The woman stared at him for a few long moments, her heartbeat thundering in his ears. Her mouth moved dryly, making no sounds.

He shuffled his feet a bit, focusing on the child on her hip, rather than the disconcerting golden light in the woman's eyes. The boy's pudgy fingers were currently gumming against his few teeth, wide eyes focused on Remus and his head—hair now matching Remus'—was resting comfortably on the woman's shoulder. _If that is my son… Is she my wife?_

Almost the instant that he thought it, the woman reached a hand out towards him and whispered, "Remus? Is it really you?" That golden light in her eyes was shining brighter and it stirred something in his stomach uncomfortably.

He coughed, choking on any word his tongue was garbling over; he couldn't remember what word he had been going to say because the bulk of his attention shifted to restrain the wakening of Moony he felt within. His eyes widened a bit as he felt the wolf stretching, an almost tangible stroking of his muscles with a furred form, his mind narrowing into a world of black and white and heat signatures before overlapping color. Moony growled low in his head, opening his eyes to look through his human's at this woman.

Remus stepped forward, not taking the outstretched hand, but rather smelling it. And on that first inhale, a flood of purple and pink and brown scents wafted over his wolf-heightened olfactory senses, triggering his taste buds and vision to alter how he saw the woman holding his—he sniffed at the boy this time, recognizing his own scent in the boy's natural scent, so yes, his—son. She still looked as she had before, hair a crazy nest of curls and tangles from sleep, soft purple marks under her eyes from lack of restful sleep, and a desperate stare in her two chocolate eyes with that foreign golden light.

Moony growled a little deeper, demanding the man make certain. Without thought, and with little control, Remus moved closer to the woman and bent his head to sniff at the curve of her neck beside the toddler's head. He closed his eyes, allowing his nose greater presence and opened his mouth. His pink tongue reached out and flicked down onto her skin, taking the barest taste of her skin.

An even more powerful hammer of flavor and need slammed into his body, causing him to lock his knees and bring his arms to embrace the woman and child. The wolf settled within him, binding the two as one for a moment and he dipped his teeth into her tender flesh. He pressed a light kiss against the barest nibble, murmuring, "Mate."

He felt rather than heard her shocked intake of breath, and he pulled back. She choked over the word as she spoke it, "Remus." It wasn't a refusal that choked her voice, it wasn't revulsion. It was relief.

Remus pulled back from her, eyeing her fully, letting Moony look his full as well. Their mate wasn't a stereotypical beauty, but she wanted to be his mate. Her tone practically screamed that she had been kept waiting for too long, had given up hope he would ever claim her. Remus reached a hand up to her cheek, brushing his finger along her soft skin. She finally moved then; face breaking into a smile as tears fell from her eyes. The golden light dimmed a little but never died.

The toddler, seeming to understand something big had happened, reached his pudgy hand from his mouth and grabbed his father's nose. He giggled and broke the tension the primary claiming had caused. His mate turned to smile at his son and whispered, "Yes. That's his nose. Has Teddy got his nose?" And the toddler laughed back at her removing his hand from his father's nose and reaching instead for his own.

A low chuckle escaped the werewolf in his mind, and another escaped from his human mouth. "Hello, cub," he whispered in a huskier voice than he remembered using a moment before. The cub reached for him again, a smile across his face, bright eyes shining an unmitigated gold.

Remus reached out and gently cradled his son's head in his hand. He ducked his head down and inhaled that sweet, baby smell. He could smell his child, and he could smell his mate's scent on the child, as well as his own intermingled with the boy's natural smell. But there was another scent present, and his hackles rose. He heard her heart rate speed up as he growled and sniffed the boy once more. There—it was another woman's scent which was mingled in with the boy's natural scent alongside his own—not his mate's.

Amber eyes flew open and turned to meet golden-brown ones. "You are not his mother?" Remus asked in a broken voice, disbelief and fear fighting to cover the rage boiling in Moony's heart. Remus realized with a shock, he didn't even know her name—only that she was raising his son, and she was his mate. His heart broke for her, and for himself. "What have I done?"

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E/N: So, next chapter will be Hermione's POV, and then I will be combining POVs within chapters since they will have met in the middle, plot-wise. Please review!


	5. Fourth Chapter: Mind-bending and Heart

Chapter Four: Mind-bending and Heart-rending

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A/N: I promise, the third person vs. first person will be important, so please bear with it. It should also help you to identify POVs easier in the coming chapters where both get a turn. This chapter is dedicated to onebigscribble who has been along with me and many of my fics for the long haul. You're the best, love.

Disclaimer: Well, if I can't have this, can I have a castle? I can be a fair negotiator… if I want to.

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My heartbeat sped up, pitter-pattering against my chest with all the subtlety of the twin's Firework Filibusters. I almost closed my eyes in sheer joy when his teeth met my flesh, fulfilling the promise he told me he could never make all those years ago. Trapped in a choking memory, I saw his weathered face once more, weary with care, muscles tense as he fought not to reach out to me, fighting Moony's command to pull me closer to him. I trembled in the memory, as I did now. But, now Remus moved to embrace me at the first sign of shock, fear, disbelief, whatever this volatile emotion within me was. Memory Remus was whispering about how he was too old, I was so young, he was too poor, too broken, too dangerous, and he ignored every rebuttal I gave. My heart had broken when I realized he was making my decision for me.

He had broken it again when I learned of his marriage to Tonks. I pinched my eyes shut in remembrance, fear of the foreign rage welling up within me, intermingled with the grief and thanksgiving I felt at her dying to protect him. But he had died as well on that battlefield. Left behind his only child, a hapless infant, orphaned during the painful labor which brought forth a new world. And he had left me behind too. I might have whimpered as I remembered every painful emotion I felt after the battle. The little joy I had found had been through his son, whom he had made my charge—perhaps the greatest gift he had ever given me—when he made me the sole guardian of Teddy.

I opened my eyes when I heard my little boy's voice call my name in a concerned whisper, that gentle, hushed tone my boy always used when he was afraid, "My-my? My-knee?" He reached both hands for my face, trying to pull me closer, and I let his infant strength overpower me. He pressed a wet kiss to my cheeks, rubbing his nose against mine in an adorable eskimo kiss.

I gave a small watery laugh. "That's right, Teddy. You rub noses and I give butterfly kisses, right?" And I pressed my face against his cheeks, blinking my eyelashes gently against his baby-soft skin, invoking the calming ritual we had built through nightmares and bouts of depression. He was my little boy now, the anchor that had pulled me from my grief and back into the real world after Remus had died. I hugged my little boy closer to me, letting a small sob escape as I tucked the rest back into my heart, promising myself a good cry later.

I looked away from a pouting Teddy, and turned to face… Remus. Only Remus would have recognized me as his mate. And only a werewolf would have been able to scent out the discrepancy in Teddy's parental make-up. "Remus," I whispered, reaching a hand up from Teddy's leg to hold Remus' face, rubbing my knuckles along the hard edge of his jaw. "I am your mate. And Teddy is your son. You… You really are from the past, aren't you?"

His head jerked in agreement, "I must be. Or you're from the future. Is this house in the past, or the present, do you think?"

My nose wrinkled as I thought on it for a moment, delighting in the mental exercise, hungry to begin researching. "Not sure. I'll work on that in a bit. How old are you?" Teddy yawned hugely, dropping his head along my shoulder once more, his brown eyes—stolen from my own—blinking slowly closed, right eye locking shut before his left.

His shoulders shrugged uncomfortably, tensing before he answered, "I'm twenty. I'm sure you were more familiar with an older me." He shrugged his shoulders again, as though trying to shake me away, but unwilling to actually part from me.

"Of course I am," I answered. "I'm from the future. Or something. Twenty? Cor, so have James and Lily married yet?" I mentally began rolling through timelines, trying to pinpoint his removal from the timeline.

"Not yet. He popped the question, though, and they've moved in together. I bought this place because I needed my own home, what with Sirius wanting a bachelor pad, and Peter still…" he trailed off and looked at me sharply at the snarl I made after hearing that name.

"Go on," I whispered, not prepared to apologize for my reaction.

His amber gaze studied me levelly, taking in my defensive stance, even only an arm's length from him, and the way I had shifted Teddy to a more protected seat on my hip. I could practically see Moony going on the defensive within him, but wary and unsure of his target. I nodded at him, ready for him to continue, steeling myself against reacting again. "…still lives with his mum. Why are you… What scared you?"

"I am not scared. I am angry." And with that wonderfully informative rejoinder, I turned out of his grip, fighting the memories of my past, trying to join that picture with my current reality. He was real—at least here he was, I clarified, remembering how he disappeared outside the door—but that didn't mean I wasn't imagining the whole thing. Could a hex have done this to me? Was I currently being tortured, and my mind was protecting me by offering me exactly what I wanted? Or had I been obliviated, and this was the reality my mind concocted, stealing a plausible dimension from the depths of my heart?

I shook my head as I walked into Teddy's room, sitting in the rocking chair and cradling my little joy closer to me. I sniffed at his head, delighting in how peaceful that smell made me. Teddy could calm me faster than Harry, Ron, and the entire Hogwarts library. I rocked gently, humming a lullaby as my eyes danced over his face, singing of my love for him, reminding him he ought to be sleeping, and assuring him I would be here when he woke. After some time, during which Remus stood in the doorway, not breaching the doorway into this safe haven I had built for my little one, I tucked a sleeping Teddy into his crib, snuggled his little stuffed dog closer and walked away. I kept my eyes on my feet the whole time, uncertain of finding an emotion that would scare me in Remus' eyes.

I ushered him out through the door ahead of me and turned to quietly close it, pulling my wand out to set the wards around it once more. They would immediately drop if I ever tried to get in to help him, but no one else would be able to get to him.

I glanced at Remus through my peripheral and saw him fidgeting, shifting his weight from foot to foot, and I pictured Moony pacing in circles in his mind. I smiled a little at the thought. Remus smiled in return immediately, and then paused, uncertain of why we were smiling.

I sighed. Whether or not we were both real, or if this was a mental prison of my own making, we had a long ways to go. "Tea?" I offered.

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E/N: So, finally, a much longer chapter. I hope you all loved it. Please review!


	6. Fifth Chapter: Teatime Treaties

A/N: Hello, all! I hope your lives have been kind to you recently, and I hope this update finds you well. This chapter is dedicated to Mrs. Regulas Arcturus Black who not only began following this story but also got her sister hooked on it! In other news, there is a lovely little poll up on my profile about pending oneshots I've got dancing in my head like sugar plums. Please go vote! It's more interesting than the Presidential election, for the Americans among you, after all, the idea of a Sirius/Remus fic gets my attention much faster than a debate. Maybe that's just me…

Disclaimer: I was recently given a gift of the moon. I need nothing else right now! But Remus/Moony would be lovely. Not that I would snub Severus, Sirius, Regulas, Fabian, Gideon, George, Fred, Bill, Charlie, Neville, and some random others…. I'm not a terribly picky person, am I? I suppose it depends on my mood… But I think it's safe to say my type is WIZARD…

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Chapter Five: Teatime Treaties

Remus inhaled sharply as he settled into the wooden chair at the small round kitchen table. A lace tablecloth he didn't remember being there yesterday laid delicately beneath his tea cup and saucer. His mate was moving around the kitchen gathering odds and ends while the kettle rose to a boil. He watched with some mingled disbelief and delight as she gathered his favorite tea additions without having to ask. As she settled a small cup of chocolate morsels and a pitcher of honey by his setting she smiled at him before turning around and fetching her own tea condiments.

Moony's low purr of contentment vibrated through his bloodstream, bubbling the molecules with a heated joy. But Remus couldn't just sign off on the simple pleasure finding and claiming his mate brought. Well, the primary claiming anyhow. And the wolf within gave a wholly masculine chuckle at the tempting thoughts of the further claimings.

She glanced up at him from her place before the stove, a small smile kissing her lips, and he smiled back once more, still arse over head in his mind about her. "What—" he began and then coughed to clear his throat. "What is your name?"

She let out a small gasp and touched her fingertips to her mouth as it formed a moue of surprise. "Oh! How silly of me! You don't even—of course!" She set the kettle on the stove once more and walked over to him, sticking her right hand out to him. "Hello, my name is Hermione Granger. It's my greatest pleasure to meet you."

_Hermione. _Even her name sounded as unique as the rest of her: a woman who wanted to be a werewolf's mate. Remus had never even dared to dream… "Hermione," he whispered, grinning at her hand, folded tenderly within two of his. He stroked the skin of her hand almost reverently; afraid she might disappear from view as she had when he had stepped through the door.

Hermione lifted her left hand up to his face and stroked the slight scruff he hadn't shaved yet. There was a spark in her eyes, mixed with a great sadness—neither of which he felt he understood. And maybe he never would. He closed his eyes and nuzzled his cheek into the palm of her hand. Moony sighed contentedly, and Hermione laughed a little in response. Remus opened his eyes to look at her smiling face and wanted to cry.

"Why didn't I claim you?" he heard himself ask.

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E/N: So?


	7. Sixth Chapter: Heart Aches & High Alerts

A/N: This fic has reached 100 reviews! I feel like that deserves more than an ordinary update, so here is where a lot of background plot will come out to play. Among other things, I promised everyone longer chapters. Here is my end of the bargain. Side note: Black Friday can die. That is all.

Disclaimer: Gimmee! Gimmee! Gimm—Oh. Hi, Santa. How've you been? You look like you lost a few pounds… *Ahem*

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Sixth Chapter: Heart Aches and High Alerts

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"Why didn't I claim you?"

Hermione's heart jumped to her throat, defying gravity for the lure of satisfying suicide available just a mouth away. She heard a pounding in her ears, which couldn't be her heartbeat, so maybe someone was knocking on the door. She glanced to the right towards the clock and felt her world spin a bit. Locking her knees, she caught herself without swaying overmuch. She bit her lip until the pain distracted her and she could unlock her knees. She counted slowly, reciting Teddy's illnesses—which she kept memorized in case a mediwitch needed the information—silently to herself until she felt her heart settle back into place. She released a heavy breath in a small sigh. "You gave me a lot of reasons why, but I only saw one as an actual reason." She turned to gaze at a picture he hadn't noticed earlier held to the fridge by a double-decker bus magnet. He saw three smiling faces in the photo, moving to look at each other and laugh more: one he instantly recognized as Teddy, the man in the picture appeared to be an older version of him, but the woman… With striking violet hair, delicate features, and a ridiculous tan, she was more alien to him than anything he had ever seen.

"Who?"

"Teddy's mother. Your wife." Hermione glanced down at her hands, idle on her lap. She stood and refilled her tea cup, topping off Remus' as well. "It's a bit complicated. When you and I first met, I was underage, didn't know you were a werewolf and therefore on the hunt for a mate, and you were my professor."

Remus choked on the tea he had been drinking. "What?!"

Hermione just nodded. "I agree with the decision you made without consulting me: I was too young, and it would be inappropriate for a teacher to betray his student's trust in that manner. However, once you resigned, due to separate circumstances, and I knew you were a werewolf, I saw my age as only a temporary setback. I was glad you wouldn't try to claim me at fourteen or fifteen, how could I be ready for that?" Hermione's gaze was locked on her teacup, mind clearly set in the recesses of her memory.

"But I believed that once I was old enough, we would pursue each other. There were other setbacks—the war going on was a large one—but I felt we could overcome them. And then you married Dora." Hermione looked up at Remus across the table from her. "It seemed to come out of nowhere. I mean, we all noticed how she seemed smitten with you, but you seemed to not reciprocate, and then… Then you told Harry, Ron, and I that you had gotten married. No warning, no notice, just, it's done."

Hermione shifted in her seat, brushing her fingers along her arms as though to warm them. "I'm not foolish, Remus, and I know you did care for her. She was a wonderful woman, a warrior on our side against Voldemort. She was funny, but knew the realities of our world and its dangers. I thought of her like a friend. Even after you married her, after she conceived your child. I never hated her… or you. It just… It hurt me, Remus. Every time I saw you, or her. For a long time."

Remus moved his arms across the table to reach for her hand and she grasped it with a bittersweet smile. "I was hurt, but I never planned to do anything once you were married. I'm no home wrecker, Remus. Once you chose her, you were hers. Then you two had Teddy, and… And I was on the run, and all hell came raining down. I didn't—"

"On the run from whom?" The gravelly voice that bit those words out was one Hermione had only heard rarely. Of course, everyone tried to avoid or prevent a pissed off Moony.

Hermione sighed and ran a frantic hand through her hair, tugging the strands at her temples. "Everyone. The Ministry made me Undesirable Number Two, and my friends were numbers Three and One, so we were in hiding. We also had death eaters, Voldemort, and a thousand snatchers on our arses. We got grabbed in the Forest of Dean and handed over to high-paying death eaters."

"I'll kill 'em."

Hermione rolled her eyes at the snarl. "Shove it, Moony. They're already dead. I've moved on." Hermione squeezed his hand and smiled up at him. "We won, in the end. It was a great battle, on the grounds of Hogwarts. Many teachers, students, Aurors, and Order members died, fighting for freedom from tyranny. Many lives lost for the 'greater good'. Including Nymphadora Tonks Lupin, your wife. And you." Hermione swallowed thickly past the tears which formed in her eyes each time she thought of his pale, prone figure on that bit of blanket on the floor of the Great Hall cum Hospital Wing. "You were the last marauder left, and you followed them out through the same door: dying in defense of those you loved." Hermione's muddled mind recalled his tombstone and the inscription she had chosen, a privilege which had fallen to her as his mate much like the guardianship of Teddy, "There is no greater love, than for a man to lay down his life for his friends".

"I… And you have Teddy?"

"You had left a letter for me. I still have it. You told me… You told me how you never stopped loving me, and how you wanted to be with me, but you chose her so that you could leave me Teddy. You said you knew you wouldn't survive the war, even if you had claimed me. And you knew that if you had claimed me, your death would kill me. It might have anyway, if I hadn't had Teddy. We pulled each other through your loss. And Dora's." Hermione smiled in the direction of the stairwell. "He's my brave little soldier."

Remus smiled halfheartedly, his eyes holding her gaze, as though terrified to look away. "You said… In the letter, I told you why… Why I would give you up, even for a moment… Can I see it?" Hermione stood to fetch the letter from her room. Remus trailed behind her, his hands still holding hers, gripping it firmly. She pulled the letter from her jinxed bureau drawer and handed him the faded piece of parchment.

Remus read the scribbled lines, tracing out their sincerity with his amber eyes. "But… I don't think I could have let you go without ever… And I would have been stronger with you by my side, Hermione, as every wolf is twice as powerful with his mate. Why would I think I would die?"

Hermione was smiling him when he looked up at her, but there were tears on her cheeks. "You knew, Remus, because you had seen enough death, and had lived through so much of it, that Death was like a friend whose scent was familiar, and whose knock you recognized."

Remus looked at his mate, a woman who had seen him die, who had watched many die—including James, Sirius, and Peter, his best mates—and was still strong enough to raise his living son. A son she had not borne. In a voice thick with emotion, he whispered, "Thank you."

Hermione just smiled as she tugged him back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

He had just settled himself into the dining chair, and Hermione had turned to the stove, turning the heat on for another pot of tea, when the fireplace flared vivid green.

* * *

E/N: So, definitely getting longer, but aside from that, I'd love feedback. Better too much than too little!


	8. Seventh Chapter: This Potter and That

A/N: I have had so much inspiration for how to write these next few chapters for this fic, as well as SOB, so enjoy the loads of updates as they come! A huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed!

Disclaimer: At this point, I'm not even sure I want them to be my property. I'd much rather they came to visit. In a corporeal sense.

* * *

Title: This Potter and That Potter

* * *

Harry James Potter stepped through the Floo. He smiled at his best friend as she set a tea kettle onto the stove top and glanced over at the high chair where… Where Teddy was not sitting. "Hermione, good morning. Teddy, not up yet?"

Hermione turned, eyes wide, darting over to the table, and then back to the young Auror. "Erm, no. We woke up earlier because of the intruder, and I'd just got him back down only a few—"

"Intruder? You're alright? Teddy?"

Hermione nodded, reaching out and placing her hand on his chest, but glancing sharply at the table after a second, as though warning one of the chairs to do something. Or to not to.

"Yes, Teddy and I are fine. Let him sleep a bit longer before his favorite godfather surprises him with a wake-up, hmm?" Hermione turned away from Harry and returned to the stove, this time setting out a pan and plugging in the toaster. "Toast and eggs?"

Harry grinned at her and followed her lead, running a hand through his hair. "Always, Mione. You're the best cook, aside from Molly."

Hermione nodded, humming. "She has had more practice."

Harry chuckled. "I'm sure that's it. Where do you want me?"

"Fetch the things from the cool box." Hermione was staring at the chair again, but at the top of it, or almost the space just over it.

"Hermione, are you… are you sure you're alright? Is… Is the intruder still here?"

Hermione nodded. "I'm better than I've felt since the battle, Harry. And yes, he's still here. Can you see him?"

Harry scanned the room once more, but shook his head.

"Funny, he can see you. Try talking to him, Remus."

_Remus?_ Harry straightened instantly, moving his gaze from the chair she had indicated to his best friend. She had told him the truth at the funeral, of how she was Remus' mate, and why Teddy and the house had been left to her. Had she finally broken down? The Hermione Granger, who can handle anything, had she finally needed a mental crutch? He coughed into his hand and shifted uncomfortably. _Granted, it's not as if she's insane or dangerous, just seeing and talking to a Remus who isn't here. That can't be too bad, can it?_

"Did you hear anything, Harry?"

"Erm… No. Sorry. What did he say?"

"Same as ever: how much you look like James. Oh. Sure, Remus. Here Harry, he wants to show you something." She walked over to the chair and held her hand out. All of a sudden, a photograph appeared in her hand.

Harry froze. _Remus?_ Hermione moved closed to him, offering him the photograph. Hesitantly, he looked down into the photograph. Within the white borders, James was spinning a giddy Lily, engagement ring sparkling on her finger, much like his favorite photo of his parents. But there was more to this photo; the photographer had spun to photograph someone else: Sirius taking a picture of the couple and then turning and shouting 'Oy!' to the first cameraman.

"I've never seen this…"

"Remus says he took it and then saw Sirius taking the picture already, so he changed his mind about the shot. He says they were always doing that, though. Taking the same picture, and he would end up photographing the other photographer. I didn't know that."

"Me neither. Um, Hermione. How... How old is Remus?"

Hermione turned to the chair and tilted her head to the side. "He says twenty, but he looks so much younger than even when we met him. It's amazing how much. Like he's a whole new man. Or has a new lease on life. I'm not sure which."

Harry nodded, eyes focused on the moving photograph in his hands. "Remus," he whispered. "If you can hear me, I want to say thank you. For everything. And especially for coming back to us, even if I can't see you. I know Hermione is your mate, and so I understand. Just, thanks."

"Oh. Harry, he's not a ghost. He's just not… I don't know why you can't see him. He's alive—just a time traveler, I guess. He showed up from the year 1979." Hermione grinned over and paused as Remus apparently said something and she chuckled, a light shining in her eyes which Harry had seen absent for over a year. He felt a knot of tension which had been coiled in him for so long he had almost forgotten about it come loose and float away.

"Remus says he doesn't know us, you, me, or Teddy, but he's not going to let us go anywhere now that we've met. And—"her head turned quickly back to her mate. "Really?" Her grin was beautiful, like it used to be, back in fifth year when she was planning the DA and casting the Protean charm, working at the top of her game.

She turned that smile to Harry. "Harry, he says he invited James, Lily, and Sirius over yesterday, and they'll be coming over!"

* * *

James and Lily knocked on the door and grinned up at Remus as he opened the door to let them in. "Sirius is on his way," James said.

Remus grinned. "A word of warning. The house has some surprises for you. It's magic. I don't know the whole of it yet, but come in! I can't wait for you to meet them!"

Lily smiled uncertainly, and asked, "Meet who?"

Remus smiled up at his friends with a joy they had never seen in him before. "My family."

* * *

E/N: Review! Review! Review! Oh, and have a lovely day, too!


	9. Eighth Chapter: Doornails and Fellytones

A/N: Thanks to every review, follower, favoriter(now a word!), and reader of this fic! Also, for everyone who gained patience while witing for me to FINALLY update: free cookies. I swear. Just don't look too closely. Ahem. Now, general reminder of the poll up on my profile, vote or be square.

ALSO: I realized I had introduced Ginny as entering the house right behind Harry, and then did nothing with her. That is because she wasn't supposed to be there yet! What I meant instead of Harry coming through the floo right before Ginny, was Harry coming through the floo now, and Ginny later. I have fixed that! Sorry for the confusion. SImply put: Ginny isn't at the house yet.

Last but not least, I've finished up this term but for a seven page paper, two finals, and one last lecture. And then, I promise-more frequent updates!

Disclaimer: … My Precious… *cough*Gollum*cough* What? And the Dickens reference just seemed to fit, so...

* * *

Eighth Chapter: Doornails and Fellytones

* * *

Harry froze and Hermione aided her friend into a nearby chair, her brow crinkled in concern. "Remus, turn the stove off, please. Harry, are you alright? Would you like some water? A cool cloth?"

"Nn...Nn..." Harry's tongue felt swollen and thumped within his mouth like an immovable extension of his heart, clogging his teeth. Golden-brown eyes locked with his and a cool hand smoothed his fringe down, thumb brushing over the leathery, raised skin over his brow. A small wash of peace rolled down his body, stemming from the scar Hermione stroked, travelling down through his spine, before spreading out through his bones. This trembling emotion was familiar; it was the wave of relief and release that threatened to overwhelm him every time he felt the healed skin and physically remembered that Voldemort was dead.

Hermione was the only one who seemed to recognize the comfort he derived from her simple gesture. His tongue loosened and he worked his jaw. "My Dad and Mum? Sirius?"

Hermione nodded at him, keeping silent.

"Will I... Will I be able to se them?" he was almost afraid to hear her answer.

Hermione sighed. "I honestly don't know, Harry. I can see and hear and touch Remus. So can Teddy, but you cannot. Who knows why we can see him? Maybe I won't see the others. Or maybe they won't be able to see us. I can't promise anything."

A blue and white tea cup appeared by Harry's elbow on the table. "Thanks, Remus," Harry whispered, smiling up at the general area he supposed his lycanthrope friend stood. "When... When were they coming?"

Hermione's face turned to the space to Harry's left, nodding at whatever she was hearing. "He says nine this morning. So within an hour. Do you want to owl work and let them know you won't be coming in? Or ask Ginny to come by? Or did you want to leave and try again another time?"

"I want to try. Today." He didn't have to say more. Hermione smiled and nodded at him.

"Of course; you know how to use the floo. I'm going to shower and dress for company. I'll be down in a bit."

* * *

Hermione came back down th stairs twenty minutes later and thanked Remus for the plate of bacon and toast he served her. Harry sat staring at his own now-cold breakfast with unseeing eyes.

Hermione watched him for a few moments before speaking, "Harry. Snap out of it. Your parents will be here soon. Do you want them to see their Gryffindor, Saviour-of-the-World, Chosen One, Boy-who-lived son they died for acting like a fool?"

Harry moved his shocked gaze from his plate to his friend as a cry from upstairs drew three gazes to the stairway. "Teddy's awake now. I'll fetch him down to eat. Harry, there's a bit of-" Hermione trailed off and turned her head to the door. "Ah. Remus, those ought to be your guests I suppose. Would you mind answering the door?"

Hermione moved from the table to run upstairs and bring Teddy down as Remus answered the knock on the door. A knock Harry had not heard.

* * *

James and Lily knocked on the door and grinned up at Remus as he opened the door to let them in. "Sirius is on his way," James said.

Remus grinned. "A word of warning. The house has some surprises for you. It's magic. I don't know the whole of it yet, but come in! I can't wait for you to meet them!"

Lily smiled uncertainly, and asked, "Meet who?"

Remus smiled up at his friends with a joy they had never seen in him before. "My family."

Lily paused, and glanced at James for explanation. Unfortunately, she found her newly christened fiancée blurting out, "What family?"

Remus cryptically answered, "You'll see. Come in, come in!"

The couple followed him into the house and into the kitchen where a young woman in very starngely and provacatively cut denims and one of Remus' sweaters was feeding a little tyke with highlighter yellow hair in a high chair while James sat at the table. Except that James had just walked in with Lily.

"James?" Lily whispered to the man at her side. "What's going on?"

The young woman turned her head and smiled. "Oh, Lily, you're gorgeous. And, James, Harry really is your doppleganger. Oh, my." The brunette moved over to Remus and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. "thanks for having them over, Moony." She turned her head to the man at the table, Harry, as she called him.

"Can you see them, Harry?"

* * *

E/N: So, it is short.


	10. Ninth Chapter: Touches and Tears

A/N: So, it's been a while since I've updated. Tyche was probably about to hunt me down, so I figured I should pay some attention to this House. I hope you all enjoy where this story is going. Get ready for some heartache, but no tears. Probably.

Disclaimer: No, I have no delusions about what I own and do not own. I just steal.

* * *

Harry blinked slowly. He rubbed his eyes viciously, trying to see his parents. His voice cracked as he answered, "No… No."

Hermione moved over to him, hands stroking his head, nails scraping soothingly against his scalp, thumbs applying gentle pressure to his scar. "Oh, Harry."

Teddy imitated the woman he considered his mum, reaching his pudgy, mashed-food coated hands towards his favorite godfather in an attempt to offer comfort. "Harry?" he asked in his quiet voice, his calming voice he used far too often with the war heroes who raised him.

Lily moved back a step, hands squeezing James' tightly. James turned to Remus. "Explain."

Ignoring the terseness in James' voice, Remus sighed. "The house apparently has some sort of time shift, or something. Not too sure yet. We're here in 1979, and they're here in 1999, but both of us at the same time." He ran his scarred fingers through his fawn-colored hair. "That James look-a-like is Harry Potter, your future son. Hermione, his best friend, is my mate. Teddy, in the high chair there, is, or will be, my son. I can see all of you, but Harry cannot see me or either of you. Teddy and Hermione can see the lot of you. And you can both see all of them. Why?" he asked, almost to himself, his eyes darting over to Hermione's worried brown ones.

Lily and James moved slowly towards the table, warring with shock and denial, stepping hesitantly, as if they were approaching a sleeping lion or hippogriff.

"I don't know," Hermione answered Remus' quiet question. "James, Lily, make yourselves at home. Help yourself to tea. Harry, I'm so sorry." The boy-who-lived choked on sobs and turned to bury his face in Hermione's shoulder.

"Why can't he see us?" Lily asked in a voice so hushed she was nearly whispering. She moved a step away from James and stretched her hand out towards Harry, reaching for the part of him closest to her, his elbow. Her hand met his flesh with no trouble and she gripped his arm like a lifeline.

Feeling the touch, Harry turned, hoping against hope. Tear-soaked, Avada-green eyes met their match. "Mum?" Holding still for one heart-wrenching moment, blinking as his glasses-shielded eyes took in the features of his mother's face before he threw himself from Hermione's arms into his mother's embrace, crying, "Mum!" Lily wept and laughed as she wrapped her arms fiercely around his trembling form.

James moved forward, disbelief colouring his gaze. "Lils," he whispered. He turned his head towards Remus, eyes never leaving his fiancee. "How? How can he be our son? We don't... We don't have..."

Remus interrupted, "He's yours and Lily's, Prongs. Moony can smell it, just as you smell of your parents. I don't know how our times got knit together, but he's just as much your son as Teddy's mine."

James accepted Moony's verdict as gospel truth and stepped forward and wrapped his arms gingerly around Lily and Harry. As James' hand moved up Harry's arm and ruffled his hair, Harry turned to look at his father, for the first time that he would remember. "Dad?"

"It's me, Harry. It's me." The embracing trio tightened their hold on each other, crying a bit more, but laughing more than they were crying, blown away by the magic which pulled them together.

Hermione moved to the sink and wet a flannel, took Teddy's breakfast masterpiece - a nod to Picasso or, more accurately, Pollock - away and set it on the counter top. Using the flannel, she wiped the squirming boy's hands and face, which strained away with a comic expression - mouth firmly shut, eyes wrinkled nearly closed and a creased forehead- before standing him in the chair and brushing her hand along his front, dislodging any crumbs he had gathered. She scooped him up in her arms, and nodded at the staircase, gesturing for Remus to follow her and leave the Potter family alone for a bit.

* * *

Hermione set Teddy on the floor of his bedroom and pulled a few toys - a stuffed black dog, a stag, and a wolf, as well as a broom-shaped pillow, and a few wooden blocks - before pulling a reluctant Remus into the nursery. Once he was in, she set the baby gate in the doorway and sat cross-legged on the floor.

After half a heartbeat, Remus sat beside her, his long legs stretched out towards the happily playing, gibberish-murmuring tyke. Who had just changed his hair to match the stuffed dog he called "Pads".

"He could see them. Harry. But only once they touched him," Remus spoke quietly, trying not to disrupt the wondrous sight of his son - his son - at play.

"Maybe even only when they touch. He hadn't let go when we left. Not that he will for a while." Hermione idly toyed with her hair, mind trying to work out the mystery of her home. "It's funny; nothing ever happened until today, the first anniversary of the Last Battle, of your death. Why? Why now?"

Remus shrugged. "Because I bought the house just yesterday? I don't know." Remus paused, glancing over at his mate, watching her nibble on her bottom lip. "Earlier you mentioned I was the last marauder to die. And with Harry, you were saying Lily and James had... had died defending him." Remus coughed, eyes turning to focus on the little boy who was now making " 'Rongs" jump over blocks with great agility for a stuffed toy. "And the way Harry looked at the pair of them... Like he was starved for their faces, for their hugs... What happened?"

* * *

Sirius woke slowly.

He hadn't had any nightmares the night before. A slight nudge from his still-sleeping and quite curved bed-mate answered the why's of that. He always slept better when he wasn't alone. She was a sweet bird really, Sara, or Suzy, or Sally, or something, with her gorgeous blue eyes, a ready laugh, and some beautiful, wonderful bedroom talents.

Sirius grinned, stretching his muscles pleasantly. He rolled out of the bed and put his feet into his slippers before heading into his little kitchenette to make tea for two. Scratching his bare arse as he left the room, he muttered, "What was I supposed to do today?"

* * *

E/N: Yay, a longer update!

So, while I was writing this, I remembered different bits about my siblings growing up. As the oldest of eight children, feeding, cleaning, playing with, and caring for small children has been a staple in my life. I don't know why, but each child woul dend up with handfuls of food in their lap, as though he or she was storing it for later. So, when pulling one of the little ones from the high chair, it became habit to stand them up-if they were able to stand-and wipe their front down to dislodge any crumbs before scooping them up. While I was writing the scene with Hermione taking Teddy from the high chair, I had started out with less detail, but it just didn't seem realistic to me without those added bits. I'm a goober, I know. Anyway, please leeave a review-they shine like stars in my life.


	11. Tenth Chapter: Rights and 'Rongs

A/N: Thanks for all the love I keep getting for this fic. I'm dedicating this chapter to EbonyD over at FFN and to the lovely RosesAreForever23 on TMB for sounding off ideas with me for this chapter and the next few as well.

Disclaimer: It's premature to say Harry Potter belongs to only JK; he lives on in each of us, alongside his friends and his world. In a way, a piece of him and his world belongs to each of us. Fanficers more than anyone else, perhaps, for having the audacity to take that piece within ourselves, claim it and rewrite it to reflect ourselves as well.

* * *

Tenth Chapter: Rights and 'Rongs

* * *

Hermione watched Teddy playing, crawling about on the floor, or walking sideways if he had anything stable nearby to clutch for support, and singing to himself, filling the room with himself. He spent several quiet moments playing this way, but then he started wrinkling his nose and sniffing the air. Turning, he caught sight of Remus and Hermione.

"Mione!" Teddy cried gleefully, dropping the broom-pillow to the floor and moving around the toy box, sidestepping and passing himself hand over hand until he was close enough to try to crawl up onto her lap. With a smile, she pulled him up and stood him on her lap. He stood facing her, red hair all askew, big five-toothed grin before he closed his eyes and gave her a hug that only an infant can—sighing with his whole upper body, collapsing against her, face lying on her shoulder, arms flung about her, heartbeat pressed against hers, but his legs still standing and holding him up. With a small chuckle, she wrapped her arms more firmly about him, tucking his legs into her arms, so he was nestled in the sling of her embrace.

Satisfied with his new position, Teddy opened is eyes and pulled his left hand closer to his face and turned it over to look at his palm. After staring at it for a full minute of intense concentration, he began bending and flexing each finger, starting with his pinky and working his way to his thumb before heading back to his pinky, as if trying to fully understand himself. These objects on his hands had certain uses, like helping him walk, playing with food, splashing in the bath, and holding Mione close. But it hurt when he bit them, or if he touched something hot, or got them stuck in his toy box. So, staring at the bending fingers one at a time, he seemed to study their functions and limitations, and he sighed happily against Mione's shoulder before he crammed all of his fingers into his mouth, ready to assault them with another sense—taste to follow sight and touch.

Remus chuckled.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Teddy just made himself a hand sandwich." Remus leaned his face closer to his son's. "Is it good, hmm? I bet you taste as good as you smell?"

Teddy took his slobbery hand from his mouth and giggled at his father. Hermione passed a clean cloth back to Remus, who dried Teddy's hand and chin gently. Once done, he set the cloth near the wall, away from the tyke who was now crawling down from Mione and sitting on the ground near the toy box. "Dada," Teddy said. "Com'me."

Remus smiled, but wrinkled his brow as he tried to decipher his son's language. "Follow him," Hermione whispered.

Remus got on all fours good-naturedly and crawled behind his son, who led him over to the pile of stuffed animals. Once both Lupin lads were sitting, Teddy reached for the stuffed wolf. Turning to his father he pressed the toy into Remus' hands. "Dada," he said, offering the toy again.

Remus took the wolf with a sad smile. "Yeah, this is me. Who's that?"

Teddy's golden eyes followed his father's finger to the stuffed deer. "Rongs!"

Remus chuckled, bitterness forgotten. "That's right. Prongs. And who's that?"

Teddy had already scooped up "Pads!" and Rongs to bring them closer to his dad. "Play?" Teddy asked his father, holding Pads out to him with a hopeful smile puffing up his flushed cherub-cheeks.

"I'd be honored. Awooo!" and with that, a howling wolf, yipping dog, and barking deer—Teddy seemed certain that was the noise 'Rongs had to make—went and had glorious adventures all over the nursery, conquering block towers, saving a giggling maiden from the baby gate, and leading her down a grand staircase to tea time.

* * *

Sirius set the two tea cups at the little island countertop with three barstools pulled up to it. Settling himself in one, and hissing at the cold contact with his legs and arse, he whispered a tiny warming charm on the seat.

"Bugger it," he mumbled as he brought his steaming tea up to his lips. Taking a hesitant sip to gauge the temperature and finding it just below scalding, he took a bigger sip.

Pulling the just dropped-off _Prophet_, he rolled it open and began scanning for anything interesting, laughing at the funny moving pictures of a couple stuck to a brick wall—caught in flagrante delicto—and turned to find his horoscope. "Was that on page seven or was that in the _Quibbler_?"

"Good morning, Sirius. This is certainly a pleasant way to wake up. Tea served by naked, gorgeous butler."

He glanced up as his companion joined him, dressed and nodding thankfully as she sipped her tea. "Morning, love. And I'm not naked, I have decorum. I'm wearing my slippers. Toast?"

With a chuckle, she answered, "Sorry. After I drink this, I've got to dash off to my job. Floo me later?"

Sirius grinned and leaned over to kiss her cheek, "Sure, love."

The blue-eyed girl grinned at him and walked back to his room to gather the rest of her things. As she walked over to the fireplace she waved at him and said, "I'll see you later. Drumfeld Enterprises."

After downing the last of his tea, Sirius stood and walked back to his room. Ambling into the water closet, he found a little note stuck to his mirror. Pulling it off, he opened it and read, _I loved last night and can't wait to get together again. Can't tonight but, maybe next weekend. Floo-call me. Steph_

"STEPH! That's what it was… Shite, I've got to keep hold of their names better… Turning to really start his day, he turned the shower on and kicked off his slippers, tucking his decorum into them.

Once in the shower he began scrubbing his body with soap and singing at the top of his lungs. "You can concern yourself with bigger things, you catch a pearl and ride the dragon's wings… 'Cause it's the heat of the moment, the heat of the moment…"

* * *

Harry clutched at Lily and James tightly, not willing to let them go. They seemed almost as reluctant to loosen their hold on him—as though he might disappear and all the magic would end if they let go, just as it had begun when they touched him. James pulled back first, careful to keep his hand on his son's. "So, Harry. Tell us about yourself. How old are you? Are you in school? Working? Married?"

Harry pulled back from Lily's arms with a big grin. "Ginny! Oh, I meant to call her to come over. Yes. Yes, I'm working, and I'm married. Let me go Floo her over." Without waiting for permission, Harry pulled away from his parents and turned to the fireplace, tossing in some of the nearby Floo Powder. "Ginny!"

* * *

Sirius hopped onto his motorcycle, whispering sweet things at it as he rubbed invisible dust from the seat. "There's my girl. Ready to fly again, love?" He pointed his wand at the giant window which filled the whole ceiling over the room his bike occupied and the window—apparently two windows—split down the middle and began opening out into the cloudy London morning.

"What say we take the long way to Remus' place, eh, old girl?" And with a loud purr from the bike's engine, Sirius Black flew into the sky.

* * *

E/N: Thanks to a cooperative muse and a lot of 80s music, I am currently writing the next two or three chapters, which include the arrival of Ginny Potter, Sirius Black and the Malfoy men. What? Read on to find out more. I should update them before Friday. Please review! PS- I know "Heat of the Moment" by Asia is a bit ahead of 1979 (cough), but in my head the Wizarding world gets all the good songs first. So there. Besides, it's SUCH a Sirius song.


	12. Eleventh Chapter: Dinner and Deathbed In

A/N: I loved every review I got; thanks for them. So today is a tea day. Momma and I are watching some lovely BBC films tonight, and doing laundry and cooking supper together. Oh, and I'm writing! *wink* Hope everyone at TMB feels better soon. And my sister, N. Fowleri has a bad case of the crud. *hoping not to get it from her*

Disclaimer: If I could pick one thing to own in this world, Harry Potter wouldn't be my first choice. Remus Lupin? Hells yeah. Harry Potter? He whined a lot…

* * *

Eleventh Chapter: Dinner and Deathbed Invitations

* * *

Surrounded by a world of green flames blending themselves in and out of her red hair, Ginny's face appeared in the fireplace. "Hello, Harry. How are you?"

Harry beamed at her and glanced over his shoulder, taking in the sight of his parents sitting on Hermione's faded red, leather loveseat. He turned back, and whispered to his wife, "Come over, Gin. There's some people here I want to introduce you to."

With a questioning expression, Ginny replied, "Of course. Step back a bit, love."

As Harry stood and moved two steps back, a flare of vivid green delivered his wife into the room. She moved immediately to him and hugged him fiercely. He gripped her just as tightly. They had a tendency of doing this since the battle, holding onto something more tightly because they nearly lost it. She stepped back a bit and slid her arms down his, joining her hand in his.

Turning to the couch, she stopped in shock. "Harry?"

"Gin, I'd like you to meet the nineteen year old James Potter and his fiancée Lily Evans. Mum and Dad, it is my pleasure to introduce to you, my wife, Ginerva Potter."

Automatically, Ginny corrected him, "Please, call me Ginny," and extended her hand to the couple. Having fulfilled the rules of etiquette, she turned to her husband and asked him, "How? How did this happen?"

* * *

Toting a smiling Teddy, Hermione followed Remus down the stairs into the living room. Ginny had arrived and was sitting on the floor beside Harry's armchair, talking amicably with her in-laws, future and late, all at once. "Hey, Gin. It's good to see you. Would anyone care for tea?"

"Can I help?" Lily asked.

Hermione smiled at her, "Of course. Remus, why don't you and Teddy play with Aunt Gin, Uncle Harry, and Uncle James?"

Teddy moved closer to his dad, little hands flexing open and shut as he grabbed for Remus' jumper. "Unca James?"

Remus pulled his son into his arms, "Yeah, your uncle James is here. Let's go say 'hi', huh?"

"Unca James!" Teddy cried, a goofy grin covering his face.

Lily smiled as she watched her fiancée accept the handful of toddler passed over to him and followed Hermione into the kitchen. "Thanks for inviting us into your home so instantly. We're complete strangers, at least from our side of this disjointed timeline, and you brush all those questions aside and make tea. You're a strange woman, Hermione Granger."

As the women moved around the kitchen, sharing small quirks and little details of their daily lives, smiling at the synchronicity of their interests and lives. "The world doesn't really change, does it?" Lily asked.

"Even after two wars, three Ministers, and just as many Heads of Hogwarts. It feels wrong, but comforting somehow."

"Two wars? And who came after Dumbledore? How did Dumbledore die?" Lily moved closer, tray of biscuits finished.

Hermione glanced at her bright red teapot, not nearly whistling yet, and sighed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you everything. Yes, two wars. The one you're getting ready for, and the one that ended last year. Both against Voldemort." Hermione moved over to the window, glancing out at the heavy clouds filling the late morning sky. It looked like rain.

"We lost many people. Dumbledore was one of them. His successor was our Potions Master, Severus Snape." Lily's sharp intake of breath seemed to echo through the small room, dimming the cheer the red colors, copper metals, and chocolate woods the room was decorated in usually carried. Hermione nodded. "He was a great man. He was probably the best man we'll ever have known. He carried some of the heaviest burdens during the war. Burdens I think would crush me. I'll never know. His crucible ended during the last battle. Voldemort had Snape killed by Nagini, Voldemort's pet snake."

Hermione coughed, fighting tears forming at the memory. "And then he just left him there, bleeding out, poisoned, to die alone."

Lily moved closer to Hermione shaking her head, tears streaming silently from her green eyes. Hermione nodded, feeling her own dam breaking. "But he didn't die alone. Harry, Ron, and I were there. We tried to stop the bleeding and cure him, but… And even dying, he gave us some of the strongest weapons against Voldemort."

Hermione wiped at her eyes. "He always loved you, you know? His dying wish was to look at Harry's eyes so he could see yours one last time." Hermione sobbed a little. "That man always will love you. Beyond even the limits of the body, I think. Death couldn't weaken his love, let alone defeat it." She blinked, trying to shake away her grief, and whispered, "He was the best of men."

"Is everything alright?" Remus' voice cut through the dreary atmosphere like a light through a foggy ocean, reminding ships they weren't alone. " Hermione and Lily moved as one into his arms, seeking comfort. "Ummm… I heard crying and thought… What's wrong?"

"Just remembering the past," Hermione whispered.

"And hearing the future," Lily added quietly. "Thank you, Remus. I think I'll bring the biscuits out and join the others." Lily moved back, and pointing her wand at her face, removed all traces of her tear maelstrom.

Hermione sighed. "That's not fair. Do me?"

Lily laughed, perhaps too heartily, but desperate for a reason to smile. "Absolutely. Hold still." And with a slight flick of the wand, Hermione felt her face loosen and her eyes clear. Even her head felt free of the stuffed feeling she got from crying too much, or trying to hold back her tears.

Lily smiled at the mate-pair. "See you out there."

Once she was gone, Remus squeezed Hermione to him once more. "Are you alright?" He tucked his head down and stroked his tongue—velvet-rough, like a dog's—against the bite he had pressed into her flesh earlier that morning.

Hermione nodded as she felt her grief draining from her, almost siphoning out through the mark. "How're you doing that?"

"Mate mark. When I marked you this morning I introduced us to the mating. It helps me to help you. You didn't want to be sad, so I helped. Was that wrong?" He nuzzled behind her ear, tracing his fingers up and down her spine.

"No, it was good this time. Just ask first, so I can decide if I really want to let it go just yet."

"Yes, Hermione." Remus pressed little kisses along her neck and buried his nose in her hair. "I can't believe I've found you. I still can't believe it until I hold you." He moved his arms along her back in concentric circles. "I still can't believe I hadn't claimed you. How could I let you go once I found you? I mean, once you weren't a child… Oh, I'm so glad I've found you, it's like the universe scripted time to bring us together." He pulled back and kissed the end of her nose. "And I can't thank the universe enough."

* * *

Sirius stood on the doorstep, bouncing on his heels. His bike was tucked into the yard, hidden by the tall privet hedges out front. He pressed the bell, and listened to the echo of its ring within the house.

Shortly after he heard footfalls and the light blue door was opened to reveal an attractive redhead with bright brown eyes. "Well, hello, gorgeous, and who are you?"

* * *

Everyone had settled down to dinner, passing sandwich meats and bread about in between condiments and napkins. Hermione served lemonade and water to those so inclined and Harry set some banana slices and cereal onto Teddy's high chair tray.

"So," Sirius asked, "this doesn't bother any of you?"

Hermione paused, standing beside his chair. "Well, I look at it as a blessing. We get to have all of you with us, when we normally wouldn't."

James interrupted, "You do realize you'll have to tell us everything, right?"

Hermione and Harry shared a strained glance with Ginny. "Well, we'll talk after dinner."

Sirius swallowed his mouthful of bread and ham. "No, not the time thing. This is awesome. I meant the whole Oedipus complex Harry seems to have."

Hermione giggled and Remus turned to Sirius in shock, "Pads, you know who Oedipus is?"

Laughter and good-natured ribbing became the language of the dinner table for several minutes.

As dinner was winding down, there was a sharp knock at the door. "I'll get it," Hermione said as she got out of her seat.

She ran her hands through her hair as she walked to the door, smiling over her added time with Remus, and loving how wonderful he was with Teddy. She pulled the door open and came face to face with Lucius Malfoy and Draco Malfoy.

"H-hello?" she answered, clutching the heavy door for support.

"Miss Granger, good morning. Could we speak with you?" Lucius addressed her respectfully, bowing a bit at the waist.

Hermione's fingers trembled a bit in surprise and replayed memories from the Final Battle, the last time she had seen either of these men, as she waved them inside, but neither man commented if he noticed. They followed her into the living room, where they could clearly hear the conversations going on in the kitchen.

"You have company; I apologize for the intrusion. We will be but a moment with our request." Lucius voice glided through the room like molten silver, chilling and warming all at once. Draco stood silently beside his father, eyes focused on Hermione's left arm, unsettling her.

"Hermione, are you alright? Who are the—Malfoy?" Remus' calm voice deepened with confusion at the end, startled to see the old classmate looking so much older.

"Lupin?" For the third time, Hermione could see the cracks in Malfoy senior's façade, and it calmed her.

"We're fine in here, Remus, they were just going to chat with me about something. I'll be back in the kitchen soon. Mister Malfoy, Draco, we seem to have had a rip in time in my home, while they are on the grounds, visitors from 1979 keep dropping in.

Lucius blinked, but nodded, before turning back to Hermione. Draco's gaze stayed riveted on his late ex-professor, startled by his youthful appearance, as well as his existence. Draco's eyes started to take in more than Remus' face however, and Hermione's temper bristled.

"Keep it in your pants, ferret, he's mine. Mister Malfoy, you had something to say?" Draco's head turned to face her at her sharp, professor-like tone.

Lucius raised his white eyebrows at her snapping, but said nothing of it. "Miss Granger, my wife would like to request that you come to Malfoy Manor and have tea with her. It would mean a great deal to my son and I as well, if you would do this."

Hermione wrinkled her brow in confusion and tilted her head to the side. "But why would she want to see me?"

Draco coughed, and for the first time, Hermione noticed the sadness in his grey eyes. "My mother is dying, Gran—Hermione. Please just go have a bloody tea with her."

* * *

E/N: Please review! Love and well wishes to all. And to all, some cheesecake! PS, to EbonyD, I know I promised a tearful reunion between Harry and Sirius this chapter, but it didn't fit. It will end up coming in later on.


	13. Twelfth Chapter:Manors and Manners

A/N: Thanks to Tychesong for her voracious love of this fic. PS! I forgot to tell her happy birthday, so updating 3 chapter in one day, two at the same time, is my gift to her. Enjoy, love, and hope your year is all you want it to be!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the HP Universe. Mores the pity.

* * *

Twelfth Chapter: Manors and Manners

* * *

Bleak. Dark and nearly empty. A ghostly shell of a house, not even a home. Broken windows, jagged edges, and stained carpets. That had been Hermione's first, painful introduction to the Malfoy Manor. Now as she stepped through the main entrance, she was greeted by clean corners, bright lights, whole windows, and lots of cream colors. A woman's gentle touch was evident despite the clear lines of masculinity which dominated the space.

House elves popped floppy-eared heads from around corners before quickly popping away to their tasks or designated places. Hermione hesitated, ready to battle painful memories or choke back tears, but they didn't come.

She smiled.

Lucius turned to her and gave a disbelieving, enquiring look. "Miss Granger?"

"I'm sorry. It's just… Your home is so beautiful now. It feels lived in. It's nothing like it was before. I expected… But it isn't the same."

"Of course." Gesturing one gloved hand out to his left, he walked on with Hermione to a grand ebon-wood staircase. The carpet covering the stairs was a vivid blue, echoing the light color of the walls surrounding this room. As they moved up the staircase, Hermione caught sight of glinting silver studs in the panels of the walls.

"Oh," she whispered, pausing to gaze at the one nearest her. "They must shine like stars when the light is right… It's beautiful."

Lucius smiled sadly at her, eyes staring at the tiny silver fleurs-de-lis. "Thank you. Narcissa designed it. She told me we would have a staircase in the stars. And we do." Hermione squeezed his hand gently as his gaze continued up the staircase ahead of them.

"Shall we?" she asked quietly, moving forward.

* * *

The room was warm, nearly overmuch. The roaring fireplace, curtained windows, and several visible heating charms surrounded the down-covered bed of Narcissa Malfoy neé Black. "Miss Granger. Thank you for coming. Come. Sit here," Narcissa said in a quiet but clear voice, gesturing to the high-backed golden chair beside her bed. The room had been decorated as though the designer had heaven in mind. Pearl, gold, white, and barest hints of every color spread through the room illuminating it in a way Hermione could hardly believe wasn't magical. Perhaps it was.

She settled onto the chair and accepted a tea cup from a house elf who had just popped in. "Thank you," she said to the elf, bowing her head at it.

The timid creature turned to Narcissa with an anxious glance, "Mistress?"

"Thank you, Terry. Everything is well. Miss Granger is muggleborn, and expresses her gratitude differently." After a slight pause, she continued, "But, perhaps, properly." Narcissa bowed her head, barely, at the now-shaking creature, before saying, "You may go now. I'll ring if we need anything."

Terry popped away, a bit calmer to have orders and order restored. Narcissa turned to Hermione once more. "You and your friends were right about many things we were wrong about. I may not live to see where the differences and misgiving end. But, I am curious." Taking a sip of her tea, reminding Hermione that she held a cup herself, Narcissa spoke again, "I did not bring you here to chat about that, however. I came to beg something of you."

Hermione returned her tea—made just as she liked it, black with a chocolate-dipped biscuit on the saucer for dipping and a form of sweetening—to its saucer, mind running wildly for something Narcissa Malfoy could want from her. Something she wanted so badly she would beg. "How can I help you?"

Narcissa pinched her lips into a thin line as her light brown eyes took in the young woman before her. "I want your forgiveness."

* * *

"Full moon tonight," Harry said. "I've just realized. Tonight's going to be the last night of the full moon. Will you change, even if it's not the full moon in your time?" Harry asked, turning to Remus.

Remus frowned and glanced out the window. "I'm not sure. Tonight wouldn't normally be for me. Not in 1979, at least. Am I here or then, though? I may not change… But we cannot take that risk. Harry, would you and Ginny take Teddy for the night?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat for a moment before answering, "If Hermione wants us to we will, but I think, according to Hermione, as your son, Teddy should be safe. The same way Hermione, as your mate, would be safe. She can explain it, because I don't know the hows and whys of it, just that that's the way it works." Harry glanced at Ginny who smiled and nodded at him, squeezing his hand in support, before facing Remus again. "If, after talking with her, you both still want us to take him, we'd be more than happy to."

Ginny stood and began clearing away the tea trays, and was shortly joined by Lily. The two women moved into the kitchen, chatting about their jobs—Ginny for the Department of Interspecies Communications, as Hermione's right-hand woman, and Lily as a mediwitch-in-training,

Lily chuckled, "So you work with Hermione doing what exactly? I mean, obviously something to do with communications between species, but what roles do each of you play? What exactly do you do every day?"

Ginny smiled, a spark in her eyes that Harry or Hermione would have recognized as similar to Fred and George in the midst of a prank, and answered, "Well, Hermione founded DIC almost a year ago, when she was able to successfully communicate with centaurs, house elves, and goblins where stuffed-up pricks of wizards didn't treat these individuals as equals. Once each of these species began to recognize that Hermione and I treated each of our clients as our equals, regardless of rank, species, or wealth, we were in booming business," she said, as she started filling the two portions of the sink with warm water. With a swish of her wand, she added soap to one of the chambers, and waited for them to fill before turning the tap off. "We handle a lot of communications at DIC, from helping broker deals, change or appeal laws, present court cases, and we even participated in a centaur-witch wedding, helping navigate through the cultural differences, assisting in the composing of equally suitable vows, etc. That one was my favorite; it was so romantic when she climbed up on his back and rode off into the sunset…"

Lily giggled as she passed Ginny several dishes. "Seriously?"

"Yes. He even had a white coat, so he was the shining knight on a white steed. It was perfect."

"No, that sounds beautiful. But you say it like that?"

"Say what?"

Lily glanced out of the kitchen at the lads. "Dick? I'd always be saying IC, if I had to shorten it!"

Ginny giggled. "But that's half the fun! Oh, you should have seen my mum's face when I told her! And my Dad and brothers were hilarious. Oh, goodness… Hermione wasn't sure about the name, but when I reminded her of SPEW, she let me pick the name. And, since it is such a straightforward title, she couldn't refuse."

Lily smirked and slid two flannels closer to the un-soapy water. "Sounds really interesting, but… What on earth is SPEW?"

* * *

"My forgiveness for what? You've never wronged me," Hermione answered, fighting to keep her face calm as she wracked her mind for some event wherein Narcissa had wronged her in some way.

"Don't mock me. The winter before the Final Battle. My sister trapped you in my home and tortured you, all while I just sat there, unable to stop it. How can you say I have never wronged you?" Narcissa nearly spat.

Hermione set her tea cup on the nearby night table. She looked down at her hands and folded them neatly on her lap. "Because you were not wronging me. You may have fretted over not being able to stop what happened to me, but... Think back to that day. What stopped you?"

"Bella, of course. If I had done anything, she would have turned her wand on Draco, or even Lucius. He was so weak then. They had just removed his Imperius, and stripped him of his wand… I couldn't let them get hurt."

"And you think I would hold that decision against you? You placed your family before the life of a girl you barely knew. While saving me might have been braver, or more noble, there is nothing wrong with the choice you made. Who's to say, it might have even made it worse for me if you had. But, Narcissa, for the wrong you imagined this has been against me, I forgive you. I would have made the same decision if protecting someone I didn't know meant teddy might be hurt. He is my son, he comes first over every other creature on this earth." Hermione smiled and tucked her warm hand into Narcissa' cooler one. "That's what mothers do. We love our children more than we love anyone else, ourselves especially."

Narcissa smiled weakly, her eyes looking a bit misty. "Thank you. I was so worried that… Thank you. You did not have to come. Even if you hadn't so fully absolved me of guilt, I would have felt your visit a form of absolution."

"I thought it might be hard to see your home again, but it is really so beautiful now, the way I imagine it was before the death eaters commandeered it." Narcissa nodded as Hermione paused to take another sip of tea. "I might have had less to say about that day before today, but something… magical and mysterious has happened to me, and it has opened a whole new world of questions in me about the past."

"What happened?" Narcissa asked, reaching for a biscuit from the tray.

"I woke up next to Remus Lupin, from 1979."

* * *

E/N: Please review! This one was super long, so I cut the end of it off and made it the Thirteenth Chapter, which will be up sometime tomorrow.


	14. Thirteenth Chapter: Through the Thunder

Thirteenth Chapter: Through the Thunderstorms Together

* * *

Disclaimer: The characters below belong to none other than JK Rowling.

(REALLY long) A/N: Dear readers,

First, let me send a giant thank you for the continuous reading/rereading, reviewing, messaging, and general good hoping you have all been sending me. Second, allow me to apologize for the major hiatus I took recently. A lot of personal stuff went on, which I will explain in a moment, but because of all that was going on, I felt very little motivation, or even desire to write anything—fanfiction, poetry, journal entries, letters, anything—and that increased the drama going on because it stayed trapped in my head. Let the skeletons in your closets have their own space or they'll walk out, is the metaphor of my hiatus, really. Anyway, I am back now, and will be updating at all, and hopefully more frequently than I had been prior to my absence.

Almost ten years ago, I was sexually abused by another girl a few years older than me. I have a wonderful personality that demands I try to take care of everything by myself first, before asking for help. It also means I tend not to talk about things I either don't understand, or that paint me in a bad light, or which will upset me. I removed myself from the situation back then, not really understanding what was happening, just that it was wrong and I needed to never go to so-and-so's home again. My mother asked me shortly after why I never hung with her again, and I gave a banal "I don't want to" or "I don't like her" or something equally unthreatening so that she wouldn't question it. And left it like that for ten years.

In that interim, I shoved the memories and hurt into a dark corner of my mind and locked it behind a catchphrase. I still can say those six little words and any train of thought I was on instantly switches. I have trained myself well. My phrase doesn't really mean anything, but it worked for me, and will maybe one day be the title of my first published book. Anyway, "and then there was a scream" used to slam the door on anything I didn't want to deal with, and writing fanfiction/poetry/etc or reading books/poetry/fanfics and dancing to music provided a catharsis for my emotions in a manageable way.

Well, back in December, my father and I enrolled in a training program, Veritas—which is very good and I recommend it for all volunteers/educators of children—through our diocese so we could work with the youth group and teach at the home school co-op, etc. The Veritas training program speaks about child sexual abuse, recognizing the signs of abuse, and how to intercede. Well, a few of the comments I made during the discussion led my dad to asking a few questions. I responded honestly that yes I had been abused, but we left it there. This is a very touchy subject for him, without my past experience being involved. My grandfather physically abused my grandmother and all of his children, raping my aunt repeatedly until she called a help line she saw at school. My grandfather passed away a few years ago, having never met any of his grandchildren, and leaving all of his children with emotional baggage when it comes to any sort of disciplining, abuse, drinking, and in any way reflecting him in their behavior. So, don't go assuming my dad and I leaving our discussion there means he doesn't care or something to that effect. It haunts him more than it does my mother, probably, but he is the source of my "I'll handle it myself, silently' personality, and we have mutually consented to not discuss it with each other, especially since I have no desire to go down that road with him.

But, he did go and tell my mom—I had already told them anything I tell one of them, they can both know, because I never want to be a source of secrecy or discord between them—and she came to chat with me. The course of our conversation, which had to be broken across several months as we couldn't handle the other's reaction very well, consisted of me telling her everything that happened to me, constantly repeating that there was nothing she could have done, explaining I wasn't ready to talk about it before now, and then dealing with nightmares that had stayed buried for far too long.

((REACHING OUT—to anyone out there who is also a victim, I am here to listen. Many people will tell you to talk about it. If you cannot stop thinking about it, they may be right. But, I have found, that talking about something traumatic before you're ready can often be worse than waiting until you are ready to talk. I am here to listen if anyone needs an unjudgmental, been-there listener/shoulder to cry on. Or here to just be here, if you aren't ready to. I understand. ))

We have finally returned to a happy medium in our relationships at home, but during the time I was away from my writing, I was juggling a lot of internal chaos as well as my mother's doubt, my father's ghosts, and fell into a depression, had several panic attacks, and just was not myself. I refused to return to writing fanfics until it was me writing them once more. I hope you all understand and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your patience.

All my love,

Whisper Gypsy

PS - I reread over this and noticed how many times I switch between the first and third person POVs for Hermione, and I don't mean for it to be as confusing as it seems to be. Work with me on this! Also, all the alliteration in the title is just happening on its own!

* * *

Hermione walked down the steps from Narcissa's room to the main Floo as directed by Terry the house elf. She sighed and rolled her shoulders to remove the cricks that had built into them before scooping a handful of the proffered Floo powder. With a whisper and a toss of sand-like powder, Hermione was whisked away from Malfoy Manor.

* * *

Remus glanced up from washing Teddy in the tub. He turned his head to the door, catching the sulfuric odor that came from Flooing. Inhaling deeply, he recognized Hermione's base scent wafting through the soot.

Relaxing his tense pose, he resumed rinsing suds from Teddy watery curls, which had recently changed to match the color of his rubber duck. Teddy was happily giggling and kicking at the bubbles floating all around him when Hermione stuck her head into the bathroom. "Well, hello there, you two. Have you been behaving, Teddy?"

A chorus of giggles and splashes drowned out the "My-knee"s Teddy cheerfully answered with, as Remus chuckled and nodded at his mate. "We've been behaving like proper gentlemen, Hermione. How was your visit to Malfoy Manor?" His jaw ticked as he finished the question, but managed to keep the rest of his discomfort over her visit out of his voice.

Hermione shrugged and leaned her hip against the sink, crossing her arms. "It wasn't so bad going back there. Though, I haven't had nightmares in a while, so... Have you picked out any jimjams for him?"

"No. What happened?"

Hermione turned to walk out, but said, "She wanted me to forgive her. I did. I'll get his things set up. Bring him once he's rinsed off?"

Remus reached into the tub and pulled the plug up from the drain, and lifted Teddy onto the bath mat before grabbing a fluffy towel to wrap him up in. "Let's go on up to Hermione, eh Teddy?"

"To My-knee!" cheered Teddy, tiny fist thrown up in victory.

"Attaboy." Remus grinned down at the little boy wrapped tightly in a frog-hooded towel, looking every bit the frog prince from a book he had spied on a shelf up in the nursery. "Let's go, lad."

Teddy had been satisfactorily dressed in his jim-jams and was carried into Hermione's room as Remus tagged along behind, memorizing the family he could see walking in front of him. "Hermione, if I wake up tomorrow, and this isn't happening anymore, I'm not sure I... I just... I'm so happy to know that I'll meet you again one day, and that... If I can change time, I will not leave you... Or I wouldn't but... then Teddy won't... Is this real? It's not just some incredible, amazing dream I'm having?"

Hermione smiled, and climbed into bed, cradling Teddy to her chest. "I wouldn't trade him for the world, Remus. And we're all dreaming our lives, aren't we. Just for today, the lines have blurred in the nicest ways. I hope it continues. To wake up tomorrow and to have this fragile hope shattered would just be... Unimaginably terrible."

Remus joined them on the bed, reaching a hand down to stroke Teddy's drying curls, which now matched Hermione's hair color. He wrapped his other arm around Hermione and leaned forward to nuzzle her mate mark. Pausing just before he did, he waited for her to nod permission before he shared his hope with her, relieving her worries. "How does that work?" Hermione whispered, stroking her hand up and down Teddy's back to settle him down for sleep.

A deep rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, causing the toddler on her lap to perk up and turn to the sound. "Boom," he whispered in an awed voice, just before the lightning flashed. He yipped and burrowed into Hermione, clutching Remus' fingers into his pudgy little fists.

Hermione chuckled a bit, "Hush, love. It's just the thunder. You remember me telling you about that. Thunder and lightning are just music for the wind and rain to dance to. Remember, love?"

Remus smiled and began whispering, "Well, it's a matter of smelling emotions, I guess, and being able to respond with a suitable replacement emotion. Much the same way facial expressions or gestures can turn a conversation around."

"Hmm, do you feel the pull of the moon tonight?" Hermione hummed, hand still rubbing soothing circles and patterns across Teddy's small back.

Remus pulled back stiffly, bracing himself to sleep elsewhere for the night. "No, well, a bit, but it's different. Muted. I don't believe I'll change but if you... I can go into the shed or something if-"

"No. You will stay right here with us. We're your family. Moony recognizes that. Even if you do transform, you would never harm us. I swear it. Now cuddle me again, and let's get Teddy to sleep. He hates thunderstorms."

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E/N: Once again, thanks for all the love, especially from RosesAreForever23, WorryWart, ThraeElddim, and macgyvershe who pm'd, emailed, texted, and called me to make sure I was still alive. I love you all! Please review~and feel free to share your experiences with me if you need a safe place to vent. Kisses


	15. Fourteenth Chapter:Family and Friends

A/N: Currently listening to Alex Day's "I've Got What It Takes", Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon", and Marina and the Diamonds' "How to Be a Heartbreaker". This fic really does have a soundtrack as I write it… Thank you to the wonderful response I received to my previous A/N; you are all wonderful and amazing people. In other notes, I am planning on starting school again (going to get my Bachelor's) shortly, so updating will be slow, but it might actually be an acceleration compared to my recent streak. Sorry about that. In other news, my cat Quidditch recently passed away, but her sister Tardis had six adorable kittens, and I will be adopting one of them. The runt of the litter, Rumplestiltskin, will be joining my household. The other five: Sinjun, Benedict, Impala (nickname Imp), Siren, and General Vladimir(not my idea) are all up for adoption—they're a month old today! Anyhow, enjoy the fic! (P.S.—especially you worrywart, who requested another update from this series when I asked you which one I ought to tackle next. This is me throwing a fic, hugs, adorable kitty pics, and chocolate at you. ;P)

Disclaimer: I own the "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good" tee shirt, a chocolate frog key chain, and a Hermione Granger attitude. Bring it.

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Fourteenth Chapter: Family and Friends

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Remus' chest ached. It felt like a lead boot had been shoved into his chest cavity, and was now being slowly heated. His head was swimming with delighted giggles he recalled from Teddy's bath time and the delicate scents of Hermione's soaps and shampoos he had found while washing the tyke. Now, curled up in a very soft bed, arms wound around Hermione's shoulders, their bodies cocooning the toddler between them, he felt like he had been granted a gift to make up for all the suffering and loss of his childhood. But, he couldn't rest easily and just enjoy it, as experience had taught him to never expect something so wonderful to last, with the exception of his best mates Prongs, Pads, and Wormtail.

But to have a mate and a child, especially in such a teetering form—his heart balanced on the edge of a silver blade, waiting for the barest sigh to tip it into the biting metal. He clenched his fingers into the fabric of the comforter once before loosing them and moving his hand to stroke Teddy's head of dark curls. A large boom of thunder, which seemed to flood, fill, and stretch the very room around them with its volume, shattered overhead, startling the young boy tighter into Hermione's embrace. He buried his face in her chest, burrowing into her, tugging her arms and strands of her hair around him like a hastily-built, wooden shelter in a hurricane. His whimpers rattled in his chest as a flash of lightning attacked the night. Hermione crooned over him, holding him and kissing his head.

Remus smiled gently, and rumbled in Moony's voice, "Teddy. You don't have to be afraid of the thunder or the lightning."

Another loud boom sounded out. A beat of silence filled the room, causing the rain to echo. "Loud," came a very timid voice, mouth hidden in a mass of chocolate curls.

Remus coughed away a chuckle. "Yeah, it's loud." His eyes flicked up to meet Hermione's gaze before he continued, "But I'm your dad. I'm here to keep you and Mione safe. I'll protect you. The lightning and thunder will never hurt you, I swear."

Teddy turned his head, wet mouth dragging a tendril of Mione's hair with it. "Swear?" he asked solemnly, eyes sparkling in the faint light.

Remus nodded, reaching a big hand out to rub up and down his son's trembling spine. "I swear."

Teddy stared very seriously up at Remus for a few long moments, before climbing up from Hermione's lap to settle between the two adults with a somber expression on his little face. "Swear stay, Dad?"

Hermione inhaled a gentle sigh beside Remus, before her exhale tickled his ear. "Teddy," she said, "he can't promise that. It's some sort of spell that landed him here. What if the spell takes him back?"

Teddy turned his very adult expression from his Mione over to his dad. "OK. Swear stay."

Remus smiled at his son, heart lightening at the faith and trust this little being had placed so completely in his care. "Teddy, nothing could cause me to ever walk away from you, or from Mione. Even the most powerful magic would have to drag me away. I swear to you, on the sacred oath of the Marauders, that I will stay." Remus held his hand out to Teddy for a shake to seal the deal, and waited.

Teddy blinked up at Remus, for once ignoring a peal of thunder and blare of lightning, and turned to Mione. "Mione? Swear? M'rauders?"

Hermione's smile shifted into a chuckle, watery from her tears. "That is the second greatest promise in the whole world, love. Do you remember the first?" At the answering head shake, she continued, "He's already promised his love to us. And now he's promising everything else."

Teddy turned his head to eye his father once more, leaning into the hand that had been soothing his spine all this time, and whispered, "Swear stay. Ok. Love you, Dad." Teddy reached for Remus' face, grabbed onto his ears and pressed a tiny kiss to Remus' forehead. "Love you. Stay. Swear."

And to honor the rather profound promise the child had made in return to his father, Teddy pinched his eyes shut and yawned hugely. Blinking afterwards, he leaned forward and curled up, nuzzling into Remus' shirt.

Remus stilled, afraid to move, terrified of shattering the fragile tendril of hope that seemed to choke him. Hermione's arms threaded around his shoulders, and a light kiss pressed just below his ear introduced her own promise, "Remus John Lupin, for as long as you can be here with us, you will always be welcome, to be with your son, to be in our home, and to be by my side. I will never turn you away. Love you, please stay." She pressed another kiss before finishing, "I do so swear."

Both Hermione and Teddy had been asleep on their werewolf for several hours before Remus felt he could answer without his heart bursting. As it was, he moved a hand to wipe the tears from his cheeks, and shifted in to spend a night holding the two treasures he had believed he could never have.

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Sirius turned in his kitchen, singing at the top of his lungs, stark naked except for a "slobber on the chef" apron, as he spelled the kettle on and whisked bread into the toaster. "When you go, you go forever. You string along, you string along….." He searched the cool box for milk, butter, and jam, and laid his findings on his kitchen counter. "Every day is like survivial, you're my lover not my rival." He grabbed a mostly clean plate and snagged some cutlery from the sink. After giving them a quick rinse, he turned to hunt down hi tea cup. "I'm a man without conviction, I'm a man who doesn't know how to sell a contradiction. You come and go, you come and go…." Spying it upside down under the motorcycle helmet sitting on the couch, he brought it to sink to be rinsed as well. "Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams, red, gold, and green… red, gold, and green…" As he wiggled his butt in a dance move practiced to attract the feminine eye, the kettle whistled shrilly, interrupting his impromptu concert, just before the toaster dinged, launching his toast a few inches into the air.

"Aha! Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon, you come and go, you come and go…" He poured the hot water over the Tetley's bag now in the bottom of his cup, returned the kettle to the stove, though on a cool burner this time, and grabbed the a slice of toast with each hand. "Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon, you come and go, you come and go… loving would easy if your colors were like my dreams…" He buttered the toast with one fork and scooped jam over it with another. "And you used to be so sweet, I heard you say…" He bit into his toast and pulled his mug closer. Breakfast finally ready and concert put aside in favor of eating it, Sirius settled onto his couch, beside the helmet he never wore, and looked out his windows at the little park behind his house.

After taking another bite of toast and a careful swallow of the hot tea, Sirius shifted and wiped the crumbs from his bare thighs, and began to plan his day. After all, Remus needed Hermione and Teddy to stay with him, and they needed him to stay with them. But how to make the mishap permanent? And what was he supposed to have told Hermione? There was….something…niggling at the back of his mind. No matter.

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Hermione stirred slowly, nestled in a tight ball of warm, sweet-baby- and musk-scented sheets, covered in a delicious layer of sunlight. She sat up in a tumultuous roll of her spine, stretching her arms up over her head, hands in fists. "Hmmm." Pulling her hands back down to her head, she moved her tangled lion's mane out of her eyes and blinked around the room, scanning it for Teddy and Remus.

Freezing in fear, she called out, "Teddy?", praying silently, "Please let Remus still be here."

A shuffle of footsteps in the hall outside her door caught her attention, and she was soon greeted to the delightful sight of Teddy walking—holding onto the wall and Remus' pant leg as he went—into her room, pulling his Dad in behind him. In Remus' arms was a breakfast tray, bearing two cups of tea and one sippy cup of water, and bowl of diced fruit.

"Good morning, beautiful." Remus grinned at her, his gaze moving across her rumpled appearance with a spot of mirth and no small amount of excitement, as he settled the tray on her lap. Bending over, he scooped Teddy up, tossing him up into the air once before putting him on the bed beside Hermione.

Hermione chuckled and handed Teddy his sippy cup, before taking a sip of her tea. Reaching for a fork, she speared a pineapple piece and began teasing Teddy with it, turning it from a piece of pineapple to a Chaser with a Quaffle, headed for Teddy mouth—er, the hoop. Remus climbed onto the bed last, seating himself across from his new family, eager to just drink in the sight before him.

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E/N: It has always been my firmest belief that Remus would be the absolute best father in the world. And I just adore writing Teddy! Sigh. Please review! Any questions I can answer I will, and anything that seems unclear to you—that shouldn't—I can clear up. But I can't do that unless you review! (Wow, I'm shameless…) Also, as for the naked, dancing, singing Sirius making breakfast, I couldn't help myself. That's how he is in my head; I just don't know… Hope you enjoyed it… :D


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